Well, now having the need for a wireless N network I did a bit of research into which router I should buy. After reading so many positive reviews, I kept teetering on whether or not I should try this one out... especially since I hadn't heard of the company and the price point was so low. Eventually I figured "what could it hurt" and ordered it. I immediately got an email from the company thanking me for the order which included the support information if needed. That was a nice touch.The bottom line is that I'm VERY glad I ordered this. Set up was a breeze if you follow the very simple instructions to the letter. I was up and running in minutes.
My other concern was how well it would sing with my Cisco Wireless N Bridge(The Cisco-Linksys WET610N Dual-Band Wireless-N Gaming and Video Adapter)in my living room which is notoriously finicky with non-Cisco product integration. I'm very pleased to report that it immediately started communicating once set up, and has been rock solid for 3 days streaming Hi Def 720p and 1080p video. The signal strength is fantastic and has out performed other routers I have owned in the past. Time will tell how it holds up over the long run. I will update this post if anything goes awry.
Finally as icing on the cake, the router just looks cool. Thats always a happy bonus!
The only negative I could find is that the tech support line isn't 24 hours. Seeing as how I didn't need it, I suppose that really isn't a negative in the truest sense.
I'm a heavy Amazon user who doesn't even write reviews yet felt compelled to for this gem. A Great product, at a great price, and easy set up. Who could ask for more?
*** EDIT 06/14/11 Wow, there are a ton of comments on my review and I thought it would be a good idea to chime in again. Here we are about 8 months after my purchase and the router is still going strong. I have noticed that there was some signal degradation about 3 months in, but I changed the broadcast channel and it cleared up. Whether that was a fix or coincidence I don't know. As far as I can remember it only dropped once and I had to reset it. Not sure what people are expecting, but I thought (and still think) I got fantastic bang for the buck. And to answer some of the people implying I somehow work for the company that makes or markets it: I absolutely do not! I just was pleasantly surprised and wanted to share.
*** EDIT 09/11/12 I've come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. Well, that's not entirely accurate. Bottom line is my router finally died on me. Not so much "died" as sputtered out a slow pulsating death. My earlier review still stands though, this had fantastic bang for the buck while it lasted and handled download speeds to my wireless laptop as fast as my ethernet wired server. Anyway, I noticed it was bouncing a day ago and called their VERY friendly tech support. They mentioned a new firmware update and gave me some instructions on updating and hard resetting which ended up having no effect on the situation. Obviously, since it was out of warranty there wasn't much else they could do, so I sent them a video of it doing "it's thing" in case they ran across any similar scenarios in the future. I suppose its time to look at a new router. Might still go with this one though. I'll update if I do! :)
*** EDIT 11/20/12 "Just when I thought I was done, you pull me back in!" Have a very relevant followup... It appears that there was indeed a power surge on the circuit that most likely killed the router. After writing my update, I noticed that my Roku player as well as another device I hadn't thought of checking was dead as a doornail. I thought I should update since some were thinking this was a fault of the device. Turns out it wasn't. Makes me feel even better about ordering the replacement. :) All's well that ends well.
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ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I took a chance on this a few months ago, when it was relatively new and had fewer reviews. The company emailed me a few days after ordering to thank me and inform me how I could receive assistance if I needed it.
Well, I haven't needed it. In fact, this router is about as "plug-and-play" as a USB drive or mouse. I didn't even follow the Quick Start instructions...I just plugged it in and it worked right away! I previously had a Linksys B router which would drop the connection about once or twice a night. However, the MediaLink router has worked perfectly for months...I haven't lost the connection once! This router will seriously compete with the big boys, and for the price, it is an incredible value.
Pros:
+ Very, very easy to set up
+ Perfect signal anywhere in my apartment
+ Has worked continuously with NO LOST CONNECTIONS in two months
+ Looks very sleek
+ Fantastic price
+ Friendly customer service, although with how well the router works, I may not ever have to contact them again...
Cons:
This is a STRETCH, but the blue lights on the router are a bit bright...it may distract you in a dark environment. However, I am never in the same room as the router, so I do not care at all.
Note: I use a Toshiba Windows 7 laptop, which is the only device that utilizes the router. I haven't tested it with multiple machines or with my Wii or anything.
(Also, I've noticed some people responding to other 5 star reviews with accusations that the reviewers work for the makers of the router. Not sure what their agenda is (Linksys employees/fanboys?), but for the record, I do not work for Mediabridge Products, LLC, nor do I know anyone who works for them. I am not receiving any compensation or other such benefits for writing this review, either. I am really impressed with this product, and I rely on reviews before making any online purchase, so I thought I'd contribute.)
Buy Medialink - Wireless N Broadband Router Now
I have to admit I was nervous about buying something that doesn't have a huge name behind it. I've dealt with plenty of routers in my time and some of them are so confusing to configure, and caused so many headaches. When I opened the box I was greeted by a small, light-weight, sleek looking box...I have to say that I was really excited about the internal antenna, those old parallel antenna were the worst thing to look at. Being the typical computer guy I am I didn't really read through the directions, I just grabbed it and plugged it in. I reset the modem, then reset the router (by power cycling, not the reset button on the back) and.......it worked. I logged into the web interface and set up the Wifi security, grabbed my laptop to connect to it and.....it worked.The wireless N is a thing of beauty for someone that has been stuck with G for so long, it's fast and has great coverage, I was able to get a stronger signal outside than before.
The web interface is very nicely laid out and there are a ton of features
Pros:
Quick setup
very nice looking
lights are not too bright, even though there are a lot of them
internal antenna
affordable
Cons:
no Gig ports
included cat5 cable could be a little longer.
things to note:
I didn't use the included setup disc
I have cable internet and use an older Linksys cable modem.
Read Best Reviews of Medialink - Wireless N Broadband Router Here
Okay. I'm old. I don't understand a lot of gadget stuff. MP3, MP4, widgets...I have no idea what they are and I doubt that the quality of my retirement will be affected by that loss. But I do have a computer at home that the cable guy set up. I can send e-mail, read the news online and have even bought books on Amazon and had them delivered by UPS to my door. It's been a whole new world opened up for me. I'm content with life. Then things got ratched up a level. Santa brought me a Kindle Fire. Looks nice. But I can't do much else than turn it on and off. A wi-fi connection is needed. I mull this over for a few days. How do I get one? Do I call the cable company and pay extra monthly to have them beam a signal toward my house? I don't have a clue. Enter Google. So I learn that I just need a box. It's called a "router" and it plugs into my computer. I consider a trip to Best Buy, but really...my first and last trip there was a torment. Almost seizure inducing. So I do another Amazon search and find it even auto suggested a router for Kindle Fire. I browse the various prices but stick with customer reviews. It's a blind faith thing. And so I opt for this Medialink. 150 Mbps (?). I purchase and Amazon confirms. Then I get another e-mail, this time from Mediabridge Products and it gives me directions to their website and a customer support phone number. Never got that from a seller before. And then it arrives. This old man read the step by step instructions and literally had it set up and running in about ten minutes...well yes, it was quite stressful but only because I had no understanding of what I was doing but I followed the steps and it worked. I have wi-fi and the strength of the signal is good. And the little box? It's. Small and discreet but looks good with little flashing blue lights. I have it on display. It does everything it's supposed to do and it's been problem free. And guess what...I'm writing this review on my Kindle. Thank you Medialink and thank you Santa but please, next year, don't be testing me this much again.Want Medialink - Wireless N Broadband Router Discount?
I was a little hesitant to order this router since there was no other review, but the price was lower than other wireless G routers, so I thought I would give this N router a try. So far, I am glad I did. I am writing this review from my laptop using the wireless connection right now.PROS:
-Price (paid $ on 10/2/2010)
-Easy setup. The wired connection was instant, all I had to do was plug the cables. The wireless connection was also a breeze and took two minutes with the included CD wizard.
-Speed! My local network connection is 100Mbps, so I selected this router which is slightly faster (150Mbps wireless / 100Mbps wired) in order to avoid bottlenecks. I am getting download speeds ~0.9 MBytes / second wired and ~ 1.1MBbytes / second wireless with this router, i.e. as fast as I was getting when plugged directly to the network.
-Streams movies without problems.
CONS:
No problems so far. If you like solving problems you may be disappointed.
I have had this router for less than a day, which is not long enough to know if it is stable, but so far so good. I have not tried VOIP yet, but I will update if any problems arise.
UPDATE: VOIP works without problems too. I have had the router for 5 days and still no problems. It performs so well, I have almost forgotten it is there.
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